Friday, June 14, 2002

KATHMANDU, June 13:Despite the government’s populist slogan to promote electric vehicles, five electric cars, a new alternative to polluted Kathmandu, have been collecting dust in the backyard of the Customs Office at Birgunj for the last three months.

"The five electric cars that we imported from the Indian city of Bangalore on 18 March so as to provide an alternative mode of transport in Kathmandu, are lying uselessly," said Anup Singh Suwal, the manager of Eco-Visions Pvt. Ltd. today. He added that Eco-Visions has invested millions of rupees and it is spending over Rs 50,000 per month on rent and other office accessories.

Suwal said that the Birgunj Customs Office was not sure whether it was necessary for battery-operated vehicles to produce Conformity of Production (COP) and has kept the company waiting for months. "And then the customs office was confused whether ‘electric vehicle’ and ‘battery-operated’ vehicles are same or not. They have been asking for regular 130 per cent of customs duty whereas Article 13.9 of Financial Act (2058 B.S.) provisions vehicles operated with electricity would only be levied 10 percent of customs," he said.

Sensing the stalemate, the US Embassy wrote to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in mid-April to provide the electric cars the same value-added tax exemptions that the government has been giving to the SAFA tempos. SAFA tempos enjoy tax exemptions and they have to pay customs duty of only one percent.

Not only the customs duty, the importer is facing other problems as well. The concerned file is moving between the Department of Customs (DoC) and Ministry of Finance ( MoF) for the past two months. He alleged that the government officers are putting forward one after another problems for some "mysterious reasons".

While the Director of DoC Bodhnath Niraula said that the files have been forwarded to Revenue Division of MoF, Suresh Kumar Regmi, a section officer of MoF said that the issue is under consideration in the DOC and has not yet arrived at his table. And in this "game of passing the buck" the vehicles are in the danger of being damaged in the open yard in Birgunj.

Puran Rai, the general manager of Lotus Energy Pvt Ltd, a sister organisation that distributes alternative and renewable energy equipment in the country, said that this blocking of the electric vehicles was totally against the government’s policy about promoting electrical vehicles in the capital.

"It’s just injustice. The company ventured to import the cars as per the laws and who is to redress if the government officers themselves do not obey the laws," said he.

An environmentalist campaigning for electrical vehicles said, requesting anonymity, that there is a big racket to discourage introduction of electrical vehicle. "Some vested interests are deliberately working hard foil the attempt to introduce and promote the alternative means of transportation with zero emission. They might be doing this at the behest of the sales dealers of the conventional petrol-powered cars," he said.

He added that the officers would clear the files if their demands were met. But the importers of Reva are not ready to pay a single penny to them as bribes. So the company is being made to suffer.[Kathmandu, Friday June 14, 2002 Jestha 31, 2059.]

KATHMANDU, June 13:Despite the government’s populist slogan to promote electric vehicles, five electric cars, a new alternative to polluted Kathmandu, have been collecting dust in the backyard of the Customs Office at Birgunj for the last three months.

"The five electric cars that we imported from the Indian city of Bangalore on 18 March so as to provide an alternative mode of transport in Kathmandu, are lying uselessly," said Anup Singh Suwal, the manager of Eco-Visions Pvt. Ltd. today. He added that Eco-Visions has invested millions of rupees and it is spending over Rs 50,000 per month on rent and other office accessories.

Suwal said that the Birgunj Customs Office was not sure whether it was necessary for battery-operated vehicles to produce Conformity of Production (COP) and has kept the company waiting for months. "And then the customs office was confused whether ‘electric vehicle’ and ‘battery-operated’ vehicles are same or not. They have been asking for regular 130 per cent of customs duty whereas Article 13.9 of Financial Act (2058 B.S.) provisions vehicles operated with electricity would only be levied 10 percent of customs," he said.

Sensing the stalemate, the US Embassy wrote to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in mid-April to provide the electric cars the same value-added tax exemptions that the government has been giving to the SAFA tempos. SAFA tempos enjoy tax exemptions and they have to pay customs duty of only one percent.

Not only the customs duty, the importer is facing other problems as well. The concerned file is moving between the Department of Customs (DoC) and Ministry of Finance ( MoF) for the past two months. He alleged that the government officers are putting forward one after another problems for some "mysterious reasons".

While the Director of DoC Bodhnath Niraula said that the files have been forwarded to Revenue Division of MoF, Suresh Kumar Regmi, a section officer of MoF said that the issue is under consideration in the DOC and has not yet arrived at his table. And in this "game of passing the buck" the vehicles are in the danger of being damaged in the open yard in Birgunj.

Puran Rai, the general manager of Lotus Energy Pvt Ltd, a sister organisation that distributes alternative and renewable energy equipment in the country, said that this blocking of the electric vehicles was totally against the government’s policy about promoting electrical vehicles in the capital.

"It’s just injustice. The company ventured to import the cars as per the laws and who is to redress if the government officers themselves do not obey the laws," said he.

An environmentalist campaigning for electrical vehicles said, requesting anonymity, that there is a big racket to discourage introduction of electrical vehicle. "Some vested interests are deliberately working hard foil the attempt to introduce and promote the alternative means of transportation with zero emission. They might be doing this at the behest of the sales dealers of the conventional petrol-powered cars," he said.

He added that the officers would clear the files if their demands were met. But the importers of Reva are not ready to pay a single penny to them as bribes. So the company is being made to suffer.[Kathmandu, Friday June 14, 2002 Jestha 31, 2059.]

Sunday, June 09, 2002

While walking through New Road, a few would think that there is a millennium-old courtyard behind the towering business complexes. One would be surprised to find a big open space with temples inside, between New Road and Dharahara that might be as old as 1,522 years old.

This ancient Buddhist area is believed to have been built in courtyards that once belonged to two (or three) Buddhist monasteries. The quadrangle - approximately 40 metre wide and 60 metre long - is surrounded by residential buildings. It proudly houses over a score of ancient monuments, installed at different periods of history. The locals believe that there was a Tirtha Vihar some 2,200 years ago and its name was twisted later into Te Bahal. The oldest evidence found there is a stone inscription, used as a pedistal for Mahakal’s image, dating back to 480 AD. Some of the monuments in the Bahal are as follows:

Ganesh temple: It is a small temple at the eastern entrance to the courtyard, closely related with the cultural life of the local residents. People of Khichapokhari, Bhotebahal, New Road and Nhuchhe Galli visit there during festivals.

Sankata: At the south-west corner of the courtyard is a two-storey temple of mysterious God Sankata or Padmantaka, worshipped by both Buddhists and Hindus. It is said to have been brought from Assam state of Kamarup or Kamakshya along with Red Macchindranath by King Narendra Dev in the 7th century AD. The temple also contains an idol of Red Machhindranath.

Tedo Vihar, Tet Vihar, Tirtha Vihar, Triratna Vihar, Rajkirti Vihar or Prachandavira Mahavihar: This three-storey monastery-building is the main shrine of the Bahal, facing east. It has a torana, donated to the Vihara in 1700 AD.

Bandhudatta Vihar or Mugaa Dyo: This ancient temple remains to be a small one-story temple, containing a Kwapa-Dyo - the Akshobhya - stands opposite to Tedo Vihar. It is said to have been built by King Narendra Deva for his tantric Acharya Bandhudatta, who helped him bring Machhindranath to the valley. It was renovated in 1826 AD. The alternative names of the two Vihars are often confusing in various sources.

Nasaa-Dyo: This abstract deity of Nasaa Dyo is worshipped for learning traditional drums. Farmers offer sacrifices to the Dyo during such occasions. A concrete structure has covered the shrine recently.

Bhadrakali Dyo-chhen: The "God’s residence" of Bhadrkali or Chamunda, one among the eight Hindu Mother Goddesses, lies at the centre of the Bahal. It is not clear when and how this blood-seeking fierce Hindu Goddess happens to reside in the Buddhist courtyard.

In addition, there are several other chaityas and other idols, erected at different times inside the courtyard. And there used to be a small rest house (pati) behind the Sankata temple with a series of ancient idols. But now a concrete building stands there, which also shelters the local ward office and nobody knows where the idols have gone.

There is another large Stupa with four transcendent Buddhas around it behind the RNAC building. It is said to be built by King Narendra Dev too. Several other chaityas are found there, including an image of Akshobhya. The Akshobhya is said to have been the Kwapa-Dyo of Vandakirta Mahavihar, once stood on the Tundikhel until it was demolished.

It is said that Te Baha is a complete identity in itself. There were seven wells in the Bahal but hardly any of them is functioning well. Many of them also might have come under concrete buildings. There was also a Chhwasa, a corner said to be a place of protecting demon, which has been encroached upon.

Te Baha is obviously a very ancient Buddhist site that might be a powerful Buddhist resource centre during the Licchivi period but it converted into Hindu shrine as Hinduism got more priority during the Malla period.

Regardless of its ancient picture, the priceless monument of Te Bahal are being neglected by the locals as result of urbanisation. As the government has not set any guidline to protect this monument zone, modern houses are being built for commercial purposes. The tall residential buildings are dwarfing the monuments in the middle. The three-wheeler stand, next to the courtyard, is also affecting the religious atmpsphere and a huge building of RNAC and the commercial complext being built by Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh is disturbing the environment of Te Bahal.

There is no enough open space in the middle as the local youth clubs are adding one after another building or shed in the courtyard. They not only neglect their heritage but also let in heavy vehicles in the fragile Bahal. An easy business is going on: Any one can park their vehicles in the courtyard by paying a small amount of money. It invites more and more vehicular movements in the courtyard area.[ Kathmandu, Sunday, June 09, 2002 Jestha 26, 2059.]

Saturday, June 08, 2002

By Razen ManandharThe Kathmandu Post (Kathmandu, Nepal)Saturday, June 8, 2002KATHMANDU, June 7 : The return of a 293 year-old head image of Dipankar Buddha, stolen from Patan four months ago, and recovered recently in an Austrian museum, is less likely soon as concerned authorities have shown lukewarm response to the pressure from the local guthi members to bring it back.

A source in Austria suspects that it reached there through legal channel, though Nepali law strictly forbids export of any 100 plus year-old cultural objects. He, requesting anonymity, claimed in his letter dispatched to a local Buddhist scholar that it was "exported ‘legally’ with all the seals from the National Archives". The 1.2 metre high idol of gilded copper with precious stones and ornaments was stolen mysteriously from Chuka Baha Guthi House on February 16, as it was reported by the caretaker Sanu Chhori Shakya and was seen in public for the last time in August 2001, the guthi members said.

Being a state party of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, UNESCO 1970, Nepal holds rights to claim its any antique artifact that is culturally significant to the local community.

However, the Austrian Government has shown interest to return that idol after it found being sold to the museum. "The idol has been confiscated and the government is ‘very much’ interested to return it to Nepal soon. It is now waiting for a formal request from the Nepal Government to return it," said an Austrian expatriate, currently living in Kathmandu.

The idol was unexpectedly found in Ethnographic Museum in Vienna a month ago, with the help of a German Buddhist scholar who had been to a Patan festival where the head image was exhibited last year.

The idol was to be sold to the museum at Rs 13.65 million (182,000 US dollars) by a person claiming to be an international art dealer. Currently, the idol is under protection of the museum. Sanunani Kansakar, the director general of Department of Archaeology (DOA), the government body to conserve any cultural object over 100 years old, said that it has already forwarded the request letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to initiate process to bring the image back to Nepal.

But an officer at DOA, requesting anonymity, said that it is yet to be verified that the idol is the same stolen from Patan. "We can’t verify it by only looking at two photographs and there is no inventory of the existing or stolen art objects in DOA," he said. And Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the documents to the Nepali ambassador in charge of Vienna, who lives in Berlin.

It is not yet clear whether the documents sent were complete or not. Meanwhile, a news dispatch form German news agency DPA stated that "There would be inquires into the route by which the Buddha-head had been smuggle to Austria."

Heritage experts here suspect that the government officers prefer to remain silent, as claiming the idol would stir hornet’s nest.

"In fact the government officers do not want to claim them as it would mean revealing the chain of smugglers. That is why, Nepal has not claimed a single stolen idol found in overseas though Nepal has signed international conventions on this regard 30 years ago," said Keshav Raj Jha, the former ambassador to France and representative to UNESCO.

However, Min Bahadur Shakya, chairman of the Nagarjuna Institute of Buddhist Studies, said that he would do his best to bring back the Dipankar at any cost, even to set an example. He was the first one to get the information about he finding of the idol in Austria.

"The return of the Dipankar would set an example and may also raise a curtail on the racket of antique smugglers." The locals filed an application at DOA on May 8 to accelerate the process. And they have also sent a request letter to Interpol unit of Vienna.